Hitting golf balls on the range at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas is terrific for your ego because shots tend to fly forever in the thin desert air. But back in 2016, as he prepared for the Shiners Children’s Open on that range, Brendan Steele was suffering from what Taylor Swift might call “Champagne Problems.” Steele, who at the time was one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, was testing a new 3-wood, and while every shot went dead straight and soared beautifully into the blue sky, they were carrying nearly 300 yards, which was too far.
“Nope, that’s not going to work,” Steele told the club technician, who then tinkered with the club’s adjustable hosel mechanism.
Recreational golfers would love to be told they are hitting a club too far. It had never been said to me, but last week while testing how the sliding weight affects the performance of TaylorMade’s new Qi10 Tour fairway wood, it happened.
Like a driver, the Qi10 Tour fairway woods have a titanium face and a carbon fiber crown. They also have a sliding 50-gram weight in the sole. With that weight in the center position, I was hitting shots with ball speeds around 132 mph and carry distances around 212 to 215 yards, according to a TrackMan at Chris Cote’s Golf Shop in Portland, Connecticut. However, after I slid the weight into the forward position, the ball speed on my next shot jumped to 141 mph, my carry distance increased to 228, and my total distance rose to 241 yards. Ball speeds of 140.2, 137 and then 141 followed. The shot heights were slightly lower than in the standard setting, but not significantly. It was the ball speed jump that was striking.
As someone who typically hits his driver about 235-240 yards in the air, this was the first time I’d experienced Steele’s conundrum. In this setup, this 3-wood might be going too far.
Marty Jertson is the vice president of fitting and performance for Ping and an elite player, having competed in 11 PGA Tour events, five PGA Championships and the 2012 U.S. Open. I recently talked with him at the PGA Merchandise Show about Ping’s G430 LST 3-wood, which also has a titanium construction and a carbon fiber crown, and who might be a candidate for the club. His answer was surprising.
After studying his own game, Jertson, who lives in the Phoenix area, found that 90 percent of his 3-wood shots were hit off the tee, while only 10 percent were hit off the turf, and that got him thinking.
“I decided that we needed to look at where players use their 3-wood, off the ground or off the tee, as it relates to their handicap, skill level and different splits,” Jertson said.
Using data from Ping fittings and shot-tracking system Arccos, he discovered that players who average 300 yards or more with their driver use their 3-wood 90 percent of the time off the tee and only 10 percent of the time from the fairway. Conversely, golfers with an average driver distance of 200 yards or less use their 3-wood 90 percent of the time off the turf and just 10 percent of the time off the tee. Golfers who average 250 yards off the tee with a driver use their 3-wood about 50 percent of the time off the tee and from the fairway.
This makes sense when you realize that powerful players rarely encounter a par 5 that requires them to hit a driver and then a 3-wood to reach the green in two, but club players who struggle with distance might need a driver and a 3-wood and then a hybrid or long iron to reach a par 5 in three shots.
“If you hit your driver pretty far, like me, you want to focus on your 3-wood performance off the tee during your fitting,” Jertson said. “But if you hit your driver 200 yards, you want to focus on hitting that club off the ground because, on par 4s and par 5s, you’re hitting driver 100 percent of the time.”
With that in mind and answering my question about the G430 LST 3-wood, Jertson said ultra-hot 3-woods can make sense for fast-swinging players who want an alternative to their driver when a hole requires slightly less distance. Golfers are not more accurate with 3-woods off the tee, he said, but because 3-woods hit the ball less far than drivers, 3-wood shots tend to fly less offline.
So, do moderate and slower-swinging golfers who always hit drivers off the tee need a nuclear-powered 3-wood?
“It’s overkill for them unless they have driver troubles,” Jertson said. “We’ve tested an LST versus a driver with these types of players, and a driver it just going to be more forgiving, so they may as well hit a driver.”
If you are in the market for new fairway woods, think about where you use your 3-wood, 5-wood or 7-wood most often and what you need those clubs to do. Then, talk with a good custom fitter, hit shots while the fitter uses a launch monitor and find the ideal distance gaps between all your woods and hybrids.
Below are many of the newest fairway woods that you will see in pro shops and specialty shops this spring.
Cleveland Halo XL fairway woods. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $249.99 each with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip
Spec: Stainless steel head and face. Available as 3- (15 degrees), 5- (18 degrees), 7- (21 degrees) and 9-wood (24 degrees)
Who It’s For: Mid- and high-handicap golfers who want a forgiving fairway wood that also helps to provide more distance.
The Skinny: The Launcher Halo XL fairway woods are bigger than most fairway woods and have a lower profile to make them easy to hit, while the railed sole helps golfers increase consistency and avoid digging. Read the full review …
Cobra Darkspeed fairway woods. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $429 with UST Mamiya LIN-Q M40X White shaft and Lamkin Crossline grip. $329 (Darkspeed LS), with UST Mamiya LIN-Q M40X Blue or UST Mamiya LIN-Q M40X Red shaft (Darkspeed Max, X)
Specs: Titanium face and body with carbon fiber crown and adjustable weights and adjustable hosel (Darkspeed LS); Stainless steel body and face with carbon fiber crown and moveable weights and adjustable hosel (Darkspeed Max, X).
Who It’s For: Golfers who want more ball speed and distance with some adjustability (Darkspeed LS). Golfers who want more distance and forgiveness (Darkspeed Max, X).
The Skinny: The Darkspeed LS has a titanium face and body with a carbon fiber crown for players who want a low-spin option off the tee that does not sacrifice distance. In contrast, the Max and the X versions have extra stability and forgiveness. Read the full review …
Shop Cobra Darkspeed LS fairway wood
Ping G430 Max, G430 SFT fairway woods. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $350 each with Ping Alta CB Black 55 shaft, Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red shaft or Mitsubishi Kai’ Li White shaft and Golf Pride 360 Tour Velvet grip
Specs: 17-4 stainless steel body with a maraging stainless steel face, a carbon fiber crown and an adjustable hosel. Lofts: 15, 18, 21, 24 degrees for the Max; 16, 19, 22 degrees for the SFT.
Who They’re For: Golfers who want customized performance, more distance off the tee and from the fairway, and extra forgiveness.
The Skinny: Ping designed the three G430 fairway woods for different players. The SFT models were designed to help golfers who slice, while the Max fairway woods were designed to be forgiving and versatile. Read the full review …
Ping G430 LST 3-wood. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $549.99 with PING Alta CB Black, Mitsubishi Kai’Li White or Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX shaft and Golf Pride 360 Tour Velvet grips
Specs: 169-cc volume with adjustable hosel, titanium face and chassis, carbon fiber crown and tungsten sole plate. 15-degrees only.
Who It’s For: Golfers who want a low-spin, distance-oriented 3-wood that is loaded with the latest technology.
The Skinny: Ping has taken the technologies used in the G430 LST driver and added extra weight to the bottom of its new low-spin 3-wood to create a club that fast-swinging golfers can use as a driver alternative off the tee and a powerful club to attack long par 5s from the fairway.
PXG Black Ops fairway wood (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $349.99
Specs: Carbon fiber crown with AM335 stainless steel body, proprietary stainless steel face, moveable weights and adjustable hosel. Available as 3-wood (15 degrees), 4-wood (17 degrees), 5-wood (19 degrees) and 7-wood (21 degrees)
Who They’re For: Golfers looking for more distance and forgiveness along with shot-shaping ability off the tee and from the turf.
The Skinny: PXG uses multiple materials, including new stainless steel alloys and moveable weights, to boost forgiveness and let players tweak the launch angle and spin rate of its latest fairway woods. Read the full review …
TaylorMade Qi10 fairway wood family. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $349 each for the Qi10 or Qi10 Max with Fujikura Speeder NX TCS shaft, Fujikura Ventus Blue TR shaft or Mitsubishi Tensei AV Limited Blue shaft and Golf Pride Z-Grip grip. $449 for the Qi10 Tour.
Specs: Carbon fiber crown with V-shaped sole plate, Speed Pocket and stainless steel face (Qi10, Qi10 Max); carbon fiber crown, titanium face, moveable weight and adjustable hosel (Qi10 Tour).
Who They’re For: Golfers who want to maximize forgiveness and distance off the tee and from the fairway (Qi10, Qi10 Max), or low-handicap golfers who want adjustability, more distance off the tee and a more-compact shape (Qi10 Tour).
The Skinny: The standard Qi10 has been made to blend forgiveness and distance in an all-around fairway wood, while the Max version has a higher moment of inertia to make it extremely forgiving and easy to launch high into the air. The Qi10 Tour blends a titanium face with a sliding weight and adjustable hosel, making it the club low-handicap players can fine-tune easily. Read the full review …
Shop TaylorMade Qi10 fairway wood
The Titleist TSR fairway woods. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $349 each with Project X HZRDUS Red CB, Project X HZRDUS Black 4G, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue or Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip.
Specs: Stainless steel face and body with adjustable hosel and moveable weight (TSR3). Lofts: TSR2 (15, 16.5, 18 and 21-degree), TSR2+ (13 degrees), TSR3 (13.5, 15, 16.5 and 18-degrees)
Who it’s for: Golfers who want classic-looking, tour-inspired fairway woods that come in models designed to deliver more ball speed and stability.
The Skinny: The three TSR fairway woods look similar in the playing position, but the TSR2 is designed to maximize stability and deliver more height, the TSR2+ is intended as a driver alternative for better players and the TSR3 has been built to offer shot shapers adjustability. Read the full review …
Shop Titleist TSR3 fairway wood
Wilson Dynapower fairway wood. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Price: $249.99 with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip.
Specs: Stainless steel bodies with variable-thickness stainless steel faces. Losts: 15, 18 and 21 degrees
Who It’s For: Golfers who want a classically-shaped fairway wood that blends distance and versatility.
The Skinny: Engineers instructed computers to run thousands of simulations of shots and study how the hitting area reacts and any ball-speed performance gains. After each simulation, the computer tweaked the face, looked at the ball speed and performance changes and repeated the process until the best possible combination of thick and thin areas was revealed. Read the full review …
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